My uncle is Zhu Di

Chapter 117: Not Going to Get Engaged

On the eighth and ninth days of the first lunar month, Xu Qin personally visited many skilled craftsmen. Those craftsmen all had a group of people under them. Xu Qin invited them to his home on the tenth day to look at the drawings and discuss the issue of wages. This was a big project, and those craftsmen were very happy. They were really flattered that Xu Qin came to visit them in person.

Who in Nanjing doesn’t know who Xu Qin is?

Xu Qin personally visited them and invited them politely. Who among the craftsmen would not appreciate Xu Qin's kindness? This was a matter of face!

Xu Qin visited all the craftsmen and returned home. As soon as he entered the front yard, his mother Li came over happily, took Xu Qin's hand and said, "Bao'er, go to the palace tomorrow. Your aunt is going to arrange a marriage for you. Go and see the Duke Dingguo's sister and see if you like her. She is very pretty now. Your aunt asked the imperial physician to feel her pulse and there is nothing wrong with her health. She also asked someone to match her horoscopes and it is a perfect match."

"Go tomorrow? Not tomorrow, I'm busy. I have to meet those craftsmen tomorrow to discuss the renovation of the house." When Xu Qin heard that they were going to the palace, he immediately said no.

"What did you say? Are you brave enough? If you don't go and try, I will break your legs!" When Li heard that Xu Qin was not going, she immediately put away her smile, grabbed Xu Qin's ear, and warned him.

"Oh, I have something to do. I won't go to the palace. Mother, I can't go to the palace. I'm hiding here now. You still want me to go to the palace. Are you planning to trick your son?" Xu Qin immediately said to Li anxiously.

"Ah?" Upon hearing this, Li loosened her hand. Xu Huizu had told her about Xu Qin's affairs, so she naturally knew about it. So she looked at Xu Qin hesitantly and said, "Bao'er, it's not that serious, is it? Can your aunt cheat you again? Not at all! You are going to get engaged now, you have to take a look at the girl, right? If you don't go, the girl will have a problem with you, and the old lady of Duke Cheng will also have a problem with you.

"Bao'er, listen to me. Just meet her once and then come back, okay? You have to go. If you don't go, people will think we don't respect her. Bao'er, we can't do such a thing."

"Mother, if I go there and if I don't agree to my aunt's request, I will never come back. Mother, are you planning to let your son stay in the imperial prison again? He might even die in the prison?" Xu Qin looked at Li and said threateningly.

"Well, well, well, this won't do. Baoer, you have to go. If we had known this would happen, we would have visited you and there wouldn't be so much trouble." Li was very anxious. She didn't want to lose her daughter-in-law. It was so difficult to find a suitable one who was of equal social status, but Xu Qin couldn't show up. How could she not be anxious?
Xu Qin immediately supported Li and said with a smile, "Mom, I've seen Zhu Jinxi. He's pretty and has good upbringing. You can go tomorrow and I'll write him a letter to explain why I'm not going. If that doesn't work, I'll go find Zhu Yong and explain to him why I'm not going. Then there'll be no problem."

"Is that so? Well, Baoer, you've seen it, and you think it's okay, right?" Li felt relieved when she heard what Xu Qin said.

"Will it be useful if I say no?" Xu Qin rolled his eyes. He wanted to find one himself. Where can he find a good girl on the street? Those who can walk on the street are either little girls or married. There are brothels. Do he dare to bring them back? And the girls from the merchants, if he marries them as his wife, I will beat him to death!
"It's useless! Baoer, go write the letter and I will give it to the girl. But your aunt will be furious if she finds out." Li was helpless and didn't want to trick her son, but she still warned him.

"What am I afraid of? They cheated me first. In order to avoid being cheated, can't I just not go? That's it." Xu Qin waved his hand and said, he didn't want to listen to his aunt's nagging. Anyway, his previous achievements were enough to make him suffer for a while. Besides, no one came to provoke him now, so he would not fight.

"Anyway, you will be the one who gets scolded. Your aunt dotes on you, so it probably won't be a big deal. At most, she will scold you a few words. Since the New Year, you haven't gone to pay New Year's greetings to your aunt. Your aunt will pinch you again when the time comes." Li said to her son lovingly.

"I won't go. Tomorrow I have to talk to those craftsmen about building a house. The day before yesterday I ordered wood worth one million taels of silver. Construction will start after the first month of the year. Time is very tight this year. Besides, I am planning to buy a piece of land and build a place for myself to play." Xu Qin said with a smile while supporting Li.

"Build a place for yourself to play? How much will it cost?" Upon hearing this, Li immediately stared at Xu Qin and said.

"I don't know, probably four or five hundred thousand!" Xu Qin shook his head and said, but before he could finish, his mother grabbed his ear again.

"You little rascal, you spend so much money just to play by yourself, you can buy several brothels! No! If you dare to play like this, I will beat you to death. You are about to get married, but you still like to play." Li scolded Xu Qin.

"Mom, this can also make money! Don't worry, I will definitely not do anything rash. Mom, let go, it hurts!" Xu Qin shouted loudly.

"Hmph, if you dare to mess around, I'll beat you to death!" Li warned Xu Qin.

"No, no, mother. I'm busy now. Mother, the engagement matter is left to you. I'm busy! I'll go back and write a letter and bring it to you in the palace when the time comes, okay?" Xu Qin said to Li.

"Okay, go and write it. Anyway, you have made an appointment in advance, and the craftsmen have also agreed in advance to come to our house for discussion. It's okay, I will tell your aunt about it when the time comes." Li waved her hand and said, still feeling sorry for her son.

Soon, Xu Qin returned to his own courtyard, took out a piece of paper, and wrote a letter to Zhu Jinxi, explaining why he didn't go. Of course, he couldn't say that he was afraid of being cheated by his aunt, but he said that the earlier the better, and he had no objection to this marriage. In addition, because he had met her before, he also liked her. He also wrote some compliments, and then packed and sealed the letter, telling her not to let her mother peek.

The next day, Xu Qin was still sleeping when Mu Feng came to call Xu Qin and said that the craftsmen had arrived. Xu Qin immediately asked someone to invite the craftsmen to his courtyard and went to the study to pack up the drawings. These drawings needed to be shown to them in due time so that they could evaluate whether they could be made. If they could not be made, he would have to modify them and there was still time.

Soon, the craftsmen arrived at the living room of Xu Qin's courtyard. Xu Qin asked his servants to bring many tables, and then spread the drawings on the tables and asked the craftsmen to look at them.

When the craftsmen saw the planning drawings drawn by Xu Qin, they were very shocked. Then they began to look at the drawings carefully. There were not only planning drawings, but also drawings of various buildings, as well as drawings of rockery, gardens, attics, and artificial lakes. Xu Qin had drawn them all!
On the other side of the palace, Liang brought Zhu Jinxi to the palace first, and Li came later, but she brought a lot of things, all of which were prepared to be given to Zhu Jinxi. Now the family is rich, so the things they bought are all very valuable.

Empress Xu, the Crown Princess, Liang and Zhu Jinxi were sitting in the warm room talking, thinking that Li would bring Xu Qin over later.

When Empress Xu learned that Li came alone, she was a little unhappy. Of course, it was not because she had a problem with Li. She was unhappy because her nephew had not come to the palace to see her, and this guy was still angry.

"Greetings to the Queen, greetings to the Crown Princess, and greetings to the old lady of Duke Chengguo." Li came in and bowed to them first.

Liang stood up quickly, but did not dare to accept his gift. Although Li was not a duchess now, she was still living in Beijing when she was a duchess.

"Where is Baoer?" Empress Xu asked with a frown.

"In reply to Your Majesty, Baoer has already made an appointment with those craftsmen. Today, those craftsmen will gather at home to look at the blueprints together. They will start renovating the mansion after the first month of the year, so they don't have time. However, Miss Jinxi, this is a letter Baoer wrote to you. He said in it that he apologized to you and also said that he has no objection to this marriage. He said that you have met each other, and since he has an appointment at home, he will not come." Li took out the letter and handed it to Zhu Jinxi.

Zhu Jinxi bowed to Li first before accepting it. He felt a little unhappy inside because he was looking forward to meeting Shakyabao, but he didn't expect that he would not come.

"You take a look first. The child said that she will definitely not have any objection after you see it." Li said to Zhu Jinxi.

"Okay!" Zhu Jinxi nodded and opened the letter. When he saw the words, they were not written very well, but they were still clear.

After reading it clearly, Zhu Jinxi also laughed. It was mainly one sentence that made Zhu Jinxi happy. Xu Qin said in the letter that he would hurry up to build a new mansion so that he could get married in time.

"Aunt, Shijiabao is indeed busy. I have met him and he said, he said!" Zhu Jinxi put away the letter and said shyly.

"What did he say?" Liang asked Zhu Jinxi.

"He said he had no objection to this marriage and it was entirely up to the Queen to decide." Zhu Jinxi said with a blushing face.

After hearing this, Liang felt relieved.

However, Liang knew something about Xu Qin's absence. She knew that the royal family wanted him to manage the Weaving Bureau, but Xu Qin refused to do it.

"This brat has been lying to me day after day. He said he would come to see me often, but he didn't even come for such a big thing. Did he think I didn't know that he was hiding from me?" Queen Xu said unhappily.

Li didn't dare to say anything, thinking that he was her nephew after all. If she was unhappy, she could just send someone to tie him up and give him a beating. You both have the surname Xu, so if there were any conflicts between you and her, you should solve them yourselves and she shouldn't interfere.

"Shakyabao is indeed busy. He said that he has been visiting those craftsmen these days and has already made an appointment for today!" Zhu Jinxi said to Queen Xu at this moment.

"Oh, come here!" Empress Xu was very happy when she heard it. This niece-in-law is great. Now she knows how to protect her nephew.

In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Di also received news that Xu Qin did not come to the palace.

(End of this chapter)